Distraught
by Chi-Chi's Poptart
Summary: She was useless. It was her fault all of this happened. Why would anyone ever need Sadness? (Spoilers! It's a sad story, but if you've seen the movie, you know how it ends!) [What happened when Joy and Sadness got separated?]


**Well, I saw this movie and… I wanted to hug Sadness so bad. I also cried so hard my sister looked over at me in the middle of the movie and whispered, "What the heck?" I just muttered that it was so sad.**

 **The first part is just like the movie, so ignore that, if you want.**

 **Don't own Inside Out. I could never, ever, make something that amazing. Pixar is the best thing America has left.**

Sadness ran as fast as she could, stealing a glance over her shoulder at the crumbling Family Island. She internally cursed her short, chubby legs.

"Go! Go! Run!" Joy urged. They raced past a column of memories just before it collapsed. They just had to make it to the recall tube!

Joy reached it first and hopped in, straining to reach the part connected to the curve she was in. Sadness finally caught up to her and grabbed onto the lip of the opening, desperately trying to push herself in. "Woah, woah! Sadness! Sadness, stop!" Joy commanded, pushing her away.

Sadness looked up and saw Joy cradling the sack of memories. "You're hurting Riley," she said, pulling out a core memory that was half-way tinged blue.

Sadness stepped back, pulling her arms to her chest. "Oh, no, no, no. I did it again," she said, distressed.

Joy frantically looked over to her. "If you get in here, these core memories will get sad!" Joy looked at Family Island, which was falling apart rapidly. She glanced about, not sure what to do. "I'm sorry." Joy fixed the strap of the bag on her shoulder. She grabbed the tube above her. "Riley needs to be happy."

"Joy?" Sadness said, in utter shock.

Joy pulled the tube down and shot up it. Sadness's eyes followed her up. She couldn't quite process what was happening.

There was a loud cracking noise. The shelf of memories that the tube was attached started to fall as the ground beneath it split, the recall tube shattering not far below where Joy was.  
"Aaaaaaaaaaa!" Joy screamed. Sadness gasped, putting her hands up to her mouth. Joy was falling down, and would surely hit the ground.

Bing-Bong rushed forward, Sadness right behind him. "Joy!" He held out his arms, ready to catch her, but the ground split just as he ran underneath her. Sadness barely managed to stop herself in time from racing over the edge with him. She reached out futilely, but it was too late. Joy followed right behind him, waving her free arm, desperate to grab something.

"Joy!" Sadness cried, looking over the edge. Her expression turned to despair as Joy's hopeful glow vanished from sight. She lost all feeling in her legs, and slid the ground. "No…" Her only two friends in the world, swallowed by the ever-hungry pit.

But… maybe… were they better off without her? Maybe they had just been pretending to be her friends to be nice to her. Sadness couldn't really blame Joy for wanting to leave her behind. She was mopey and annoying; why would Joy want someone like her to be in Headquarters?

And to top it all off… Sadness brought her hands before her face. They shook for a moment before she tried to push them away from her. She hated those hands! Those hands that had brought them all nothing but sorrow! Every time she touched a happy memory, it turned blue, just like her dumb, stupid, pathetic self. No wonder Joy didn't want her to come back. Maybe if she could just get rid of these powers she had unwillingly received. She forced herself to her feet. She had to try; be positive, as Joy would say!

She slowly stumbled to the shelves and looked over the bright shining memories. She admired the happy golden glow that most of the memories possessed, and stared enviously at all the colors, except for the blue, which she glared fiercely at. She didn't want to contaminate any other orbs with that awful color, but she had to risk it.

She looked over the rows of shelves until one memory caught her eye. It belonged to Anger, as it possessed his trademark color; a day when Riley had not been invited to a friend's party. She reached for it, only to pull back her hands. Should she? She gulped and extended her hand to touch it. Instantly, a blue color began to spread over it, like frost. She withdrew her hand immediately, but the damage had been done. Now, instead of indignance at not being invited, it was a memory of a party that Riley had never been part of and of her old life she had left behind.

Sadness stood stock-still for a second. Slowly, big fat tears began rolling down her chubby cheeks, making little wet circles on the ground in front of her. She let out a wail, and proceeded to touch every memory she could reach, not bothering to watch as every single one became the same, melancholy, blue color.

There was a loud crack behind her, which made her jump. She turned around and saw another chunk of Family Island's base fall into the void.

She gaped. This was all her fault! If only she had kept away from the console. Or, even better, if just she and that stupid core memory had been sucked up by the memory transport tube. She had never had any use; she didn't see why that would change when they moved to San Francisco.

She trudged off. She didn't bother resisting the strange urge she had to touch every memory she could as she brushed her hand against the lowest shelf of memories. Where would she go? She knew the way to each and every one of the locations in Riley's mind, but none them were really any place for an emotion.

She looked up to the shining light in the sky. Well, except for Headquarters, but that was no place for her. Just for Joy and the others.

Eventually, she stopped thinking about it. It didn't matter. Her feet, which were emitting a soft blue glow **(1)** , could take her anywhere. Dream Productions, Imagination Land, the Subconscious… She didn't honestly care anymore. Anywhere was better for her than Headquarters.

Sadness started on her lonely trudge through Long-Term Memory, hoping she wouldn't meet anyone. After all, when did being sad ever help anyone?

 **(1) Contrary to popular belief, Joy is not the only emotion that glows. When Sadness is working at the console, distressed, sympathizing, or just plain sad, her feet glow. It's a little harder to see, than it is on Joy, though.**


End file.
